"Yes." She gave him a questioning look. "You don't mean to go back on your word and nullify the settlement, do you?"
"Not at all. You earned it with your services to my sister."
"Yet you seem intent on destroying all my efforts on her behalf – and on giving me heart failure in the process."
"No, sweeting. I only want to talk. There is still the minor matter of our marriage to be resolved." He patted the mattress beside him. "Sit here beside me."
Aurora eyed him warily. "Surely you don't expect me to trust you after what you just did?"
"I thought you didn't wish the servants to hear. They will, you know, if I have to shout at you across the room."
His amused look suggested a reckless disregard for the consequences of discovery, but she didn't care to put his rashness to the test. With extreme reluctance, Aurora perched on the edge of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "Very well, you may talk."
He contemplated her for a moment. "You seem eager to forget that you still have a husband."
"I am eager. I never expected this complication in our relationship, you must realize that."
"I do."
"I fulfilled my side of our bargain, Nicholas. You know quite well that lifetime commitment was no part of it. Our agreement was for one night only."
"So it was."
"Ours was to be a marriage of convenience, merely that."
"And it is no longer convenient for you."
"Or for you, either, I'm sure. You never wanted me for your wife."
"I think I could be persuaded to change my mind."
She gave him a startled look.
"We never had the chance to know each other," Nicholas said slowly. "To see if we would suit."
"The answer to that is quite obvious. You know very well we would never suit. You would never be happy with me – nor I with you. I could never fit into your world, among pirates and adventurers, on board a fighting ship. I would never feel comfortable with that kind of existence."
"I was considering settling down after the war ends."
"In America?"
"Yes. My home is in Virginia. My mother and sisters live there."
"What are you saying? That you want me to give up my life and return there as your wife?"
"I expect you would have to, since I obviously cannot remain in England."
Her gaze turned troubled. "This is my home, Nicholas. I have no desire to leave the only life I've known, to live in America among strangers. The war between our countries could last for years, and who knows when I could ever return here, or even see my family and friends."
"I didn't think you were overly fond of your family."
"I am not. But that is not really the issue. What frightens me most is the violent life you lead, the dangerous risks you take. I couldn't bear waiting for you to come home from some far off land, not knowing if I would ever see you again, or if you had been killed. Look at the peril you are in now. You are a condemned man. You could be arrested and executed at any moment." She shook her head. "I have already mourned you once. I won't go through that again."
He remained silent, his dark eyes searching hers.
"There must be another solution," Aurora said finally. "One that doesn't entail us living together as man and wife."
"The only way I know of to dissolve our union is through divorce."